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EXCLUSIVE: Bituin Escalante on motherhood: ‘Having children gave me the right things to focus on’

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Rhea Manila Santos

<div><img src="" alt="041615-bituin_main.jpg" width="400" height="290" align="left" border="0"/>All set to play the lead role in Dalanghita Productions&#x27;<i> Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady</i> the musical, Bituin Escalante admitted it wasn&#x27;t a hard decision when she finally got offered to play the role of Mely, a persevering maid working for a band of superheroes called Puwersa Pilipinas. “It&#x27;s an honor for me to be part of an all-Filipino musical. I just had to do it on the strength of it being written by Carlo Vergara, Vince De Jesus, and Cris Martinez. I&#x27;m not going to pass up on a chance to do something original,” she told Push.com.ph during the <i>Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady</i> press conference held last April 13 at Sikat Studio in Quezon City. The musical is based on a one-act play which made its debut last year at the Virgin Labfest 9.</div><div><br/></div><div>In her latest production (which also stars Markki Stroem and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Frenchie Dy who alternates with her in the role of Mely), Bituin said she will play a different kind of character for a change. “This is the first time in a long time I&#x27;m playing a protagonist. I&#x27;m the maid. I think she&#x27;s the moral compass of the whole production. All the heroes here are tisoy and I think that&#x27;s just an honest reflection of the Philippines. We like <i>tisoys</i>. We keep hiring<i> tisoys</i>. It&#x27;s honest, the fact that Carlo put this down on paper is honest. And he shows us why some Filipinos have it, the <i>Kayumanggilas</i> have it, they&#x27;re good-looking guys but they bring each other down. Mely, my role, she just does her job and doesn&#x27;t gripe and gives her job that dignity. It&#x27;s not your job that dignifies you, it&#x27;s the other way around. So even if you’re a maid, you’re not just a maid. You’re a maid, you do your thing right. That’s the thing I love about Mely,” she explained. </div><div><br/></div><div>The powerhouse singer admitted that acting onstage will always be her first love. “Theater is number one. It&#x27;s exciting, it&#x27;s so dynamic. You don&#x27;t work towards a camera, you have the audience right there. How they react to you, it&#x27;s all kinetic. Everything&#x27;s so exciting. You may have finished work, you may have done the choreography over and over but every single show is a new experience. I live for the response,” she admitted.</div><div><br/></div><div>The 37-year-old performer, who was rumored to have walked out during a production number for <i>ASAP</i>&#x27;s anniversary concert last February, said she has long moved on from that supposed issue. “I ignored it. Because I know what happened and I was asked for a reaction and I told them what happened and even my reaction was taken out of context. I did say there were a few people absent and then they made it appear like those people were unprofessional when really in show business not everyone shows up and it&#x27;s a given. Everyone is busy. You got a rehearsal, I got a rehearsal. It was just incidental so it was not anyone&#x27;s fault. We all have those issues in real life, ours is just magnified. I think it makes you stringer. I don&#x27;t think that any typical person can take attacks on their weight or whatever, everyone takes it to heart. I think we deal with it better, it&#x27;s nothing compared to so many other things out there,” she added.</div><div><br/></div><div>Being a hands-on mom to her two girls Tala and Luna have also played a part in making her an even more well-rounded artist as well. “I think so. They&#x27;re toddlers and it takes you out of yourself. You stop thinking about yourself. I admit I&#x27;m a very self-centered person. I&#x27;m in entertainment and it takes a person who needs validation to be in entertainment (laughs). But having children gave me the right things to focus on. That&#x27;s life. Those kids, they&#x27;re my life,” she shared. When not busy with performances, Bituin admits she enjoys farming during her free time. </div><div><br/></div><div><i>Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady</i> is set to open on May 7 and will run until June 7 at the PETA Theater Center. For ticket inquiries, please call Ticketworld at 891-9999.</div><div><br/></div>